How to Get a Scholarship in 6 Easy Steps?

College Scholarships are an award of financial aid for students, offered based on various requirements that meet the student’s tuition and other expenses.

Every scholarship has its requirements like some scholarships require Letters of Recommendation or volunteer accomplishment and an essay tailored to the Scholarship. But at the end of the day, you get scholarships that you don’t have to pay back, which means they are free. It’s completely worth the effort.

In this article, we will be providing effective guidelines and tips for getting a Scholarship.

How to get scholarships?

There are varieties of scholarships available, which is a very good thing but it can also be a challenge to choose which ones to apply for. Here are a few tips on how to find and choose a scholarship.

1. Searching for Scholarships by the types

A general misconception about scholarships is that they are only available to the smart students with high grades and GPAs but that’s not true, there are scholarships for every type of student seeking financial aid for a college education. 

For more read Types of Scholarships.

2. Apply for need-based Scholarships

There tend to be more need-based grants than scholarships like FAFSA and CSS Profile, but it’s still worth applying for.

For more- Read the complete guide on FAFSA.

3. Find Scholarships you qualify for

 Few scholarships may suit you by considering your community, Interest, Location, Religion, LGBTQ community, Immigration status and also by Athletics and Jobs, etc

4. Be aware of Scams

Do not apply for scholarships on websites or to any companies who are asking for your bank account or card numbers and money.

Also do not apply for scholarships that you cannot verify are legitimate with your college or any other reputable sources

To know more visit avoid scholarship scams.

5. Be aware of deadlines

Once you have listed a few scholarships to apply for, keep track of deadlines, and apply for scholarships as early as possible within the summer. Try to filter out the scholarships which you have to renew each year if you have too many on your list.

Once you are aware of the list of scholarships, you have one simple strategy to apply: which is to apply for all of them or most of them. This may seem like a difficult task to do, yes but you’ll get the gain for that. these applications require you to do two things,

• Send a letter of recommendation

• Write an essay or short note

You may also read about how to start a scholarship essay to submit a unique application.

6. Get letters of recommendations

 When you reach out to your teacher or professor for a letter of recommendation, you will have to give them a few additional things also like

• A broad view of what you want them to highlight

• Your resume so they have a reference to your accomplishments

• Keywords or key points on which the content should be(mostly something specific to scholarship)

• A draft that they can edit and sign.

When to apply for Scholarships?

Each scholarship has its deadlines. Some are early as a year before the summers. But we would suggest you to start applying using a number of ways to get a scholarship even before that.

In case if you have missed out on the opportunity, then don’t worry, it’s never too late to start. There are still a lot of scholarships out with deadlines that haven’t been closed yet.

How to apply?

Once after all the aforementioned tasks are done and when you are aware of the deadline and ready to apply, you need to get organized. Then read the qualification, guidelines required by the sponsor (for scam alert, read it carefully ).

Few may require different requirements like membership verification, valid study permit, etc depending on scholarships.

Many scholarships require you to write an essay, so start working on those essays early, and ask the teachers or peers for honest feedback.

(As many judges will look to those essays to filter out the long list of applicants) 

Some may require an essay or writing sample, so be clear about the directions for those essays carefully and make sure you’re answering the essay question accurately and thoughtfully by the heart.

What to do after Applying?

Now that you have applied for a scholarship, know that there are thousands who applied for the same scholarship as you. Getting scholarships is quite competitive and there are still things to do after applying to check off your list for the particular application.

1. Send an email to the Scholarship Provider

You can reach the scholarship provider after 7-10 days from the date of application or else try emailing them asking whether they received your application or not   

2. Don’t nag the Scholarship Committee

Don’t take the committee for granted and for the most part, scholarship providers will only reach out to the applicant selected as the recipient and not to everyone who has applied. So avoid nagging in the query process.

3. Ask for Status or Feedback

Once a month or two has passed, don’t hesitate to reach out to the scholarship provider and ask for the feedback or processing status of your application, Be genuine and humble in the conversation with them.